Monday, September 6, 2010

Despite grandmother Cindy Anthony’s comments concerning what a good mother her daughter Casey was to her granddaughter Caylee, or how much Caylee loved Casey and vice versa, a body-language analysis of Caylee and Casey since 2008 shows something different. Based on my observations of photos of Casey and Caylee over two years, it doesn’t appear as though there was a lot of TLC and bonding between mother and daughter.

That may be attributable to the interaction of Casey's mother Cindy early on. After all, Cindy was the first to hold her newborn granddaughter. Perhaps Casey so resented her baby getting all of Cindy's love and attention that Casey didn’t think twice about getting rid of her own daughter.

The girl's remains were found in a remote area about a mile from the Orlando home of Casey's parents. Casey, charged with first-degree murder in Caylee's June 2008 death, has denied having anything to do with her daughter's death. One of the most disturbing videos, to me, which we have seen over and over again, is of Casey “playing” with Caylee on the floor. Caylee kicks her feet as she tries to get away from Casey. At the end of the video, we see Casey turning her head away as Caylee keeps kicking to escape Casey’s grip.

To me, the last frames of video say it all. Casey’s facial expression shows disdain, aggravation and frustration at innocent Caylee’s existence. Caylee doesn't look happy, either. You can see the red marks under her eyes which may be indicative of a lot of crying and emotional abuse. Since the beginning of her tragic life, Caylee didn’t feel comfortable around Casey. Casey seemed to treat her like a prop -- an object, instead of a loved daughter. In fact, it's hard to see love and affection between the two in photos taken of the two of them.

Even early on in her life, when she is being held by Casey, Caylee seems to want to get away. She doesn’t nuzzle into Casey’s body but instead turns away. She also clenches her little fist in anger and makes a facial expression indicating discomfort and upset. One of those photos shows that she clearly has not bonded with Casey.

You can see that as a toddler there are no smiles from Caylee when she is held by Casey. That's not a good sign. Caylee looks sad and serious. She doesn't look like a happy child around her mother.

As Caylee gets older, it's still difficult to detect any affection or bonding between daughter and mother. Instead, Caylee’s attention is elsewhere as she points and pulls her body away from Casey, as though she wants to get away from her. There is no nuzzling or cuddling.

In the photos where Caylee is smiling, it's not a genuine smile with cheekbones raised. Instead, around her mother, Caylee's smile is forced, crooked, uncomfortable, tense and contrived.

It's as though someone told her to smile, and she obediently complied. But her smile does not appear to be heartfelt.

In one photo, there's lack of love and affection as Casey grabs her daughter's wrist. She doesn’t hold Caylee’s hand and looks down as though Caylee isn’t even there. Caylee does not seem happy about this, as revealed by her little fist-like hand position which indicates that she appears to be upset in her mother’s presence.In one of the last photos of mother and daughter together, the two are completely disconnected. Caylee is not smiling and looks very unhappy. What is most disturbing is the little mark on her cheek along with the bags and circles under her eyes.

Caylee appeared to be very capable of being happy, affectionate, connected and loving around other people. She's cuddly and comfortable in a pose with her great-grandfather, taken the last time her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, saw Caylee alive.

And look at Casey’s genuine smile with family friend Ryan Paisley.

Caylee’s relaxed facial expression and comfortable body language show up in a photo with her Grandpa George. That's in marked contrast to photos when Caylee appears with Casey.

As demonstrated in her body language in the photos, little Caylee did not feel comfortable with her own mother. She may have instinctively feared Casey. From the beginning of her short life, she may not have felt safe with her own mother. Ultimately, Cayley was right.

11 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I agree that Casey and Caylee werent bonded, but I certainly dont think its because Cindy held her first. Most of us bond with our kids before they are born...Casey ignored her pregnancy. Then after Caylee was born, Casey most likely continued to ignore her as much as she could while Cindy was the primary caretaker.

Kids get bags like that under their eyes, because of allergies, skin tone, restless night sleep etc. Caylee was a toddler in those pictures and toddlers dont all smile when a camera is put in fromt of their face! So waht if someone said "Smile Caylee" and she smiled. Her smile might be crooked because she probably started developing a crossbite! Caylee seemed to be closer to her grandmother because cindy was the main caregiver. I agree with Casey feeling as Caylee was her competition, but thats it.

Anonymous 9/1/10 is grossly mistaken. While kids may have bags and circles due to allergies,they can also have bags and circles when they ar deprived of sleep and when abuse has taken place as this is one of the telltale signals.Caylee did not have a crossbite as her teeth were perfectly aligned.Crossbite also does not occur that early in life.There are other photos of her at the same time period where her smile is in alighnment, Crossbite often occurs when permanent teeth come in behind baby teeth, like a second row of teeth.Caylee's smile indicates that it was forced and not a genuine smile which indicates her discomfort around Casey.

I agree, children do have red marks under their eyes due to allergies, especially Floridians. However, as a child of a partier, it is likely that unrelated to abuse, Caylee probably didn't get enough sleep and her nutrition may not have been good enough. I think this part is a stretch, but otherwise, completely agree with this write up. Body language says a lot, good write up.

I don't know how reliable any such analysis is particularly when it is undertaken by someone who is aware of newspaper reports that the mother wanted the grandmother to adopt the child and waited thirty days before calling the police about a "kidnapping".Even if the analysis is correct, what does it add? There is no way any earlier analysis of photographs could have been used by CPS as evidence of some sort of "deficient parent-child bonding". Physical health is relevant, love and affection are legally irrelevant in a marriage and in any sort of single parent situation. What would CPS try to do, say that a single mother doesn't love the little monster enough and therefore the kid would be better off in the bureaucratic morass of Caretakers For Cash?

I doubt the photos would show a loving relationship. So what? We live in a society where two people who admit they do not love each other can still insist that a marriage ceremony be performed. Parents don't have to love each other and loving the kid is only relevant if there is a contest between the two parents.

I would suspect that many women who opt for wet diapers instead of nightclubs regret their decision. Its just most of them do not explicitly and overtly display such regrets.

Interesting article that articulated exactly my thoughts, however subtle, while viewing photos related to this case during the course of the past two years.

As a former foster mother who fostered a little girl that was Caylee's age at the time that I cared for her, I had noticed a familiar "brave front" look in Caylee's photos. The look is distinct in that it carries the vulnerability of someone who has only had a couple of years to practice being falsely happy.

I had been troubled by that discrepancy in all of the photos and videos featured in the media in the Caylee Anthony case.

Aw come on, the Dr. is right. Can't you see Casey approaching Caley? Caley is standing there and it's Casey who approaches her to take her pretty strike a pose picture. The kids smile is crooked is not real you can see she's uncomfortable. What is it, the kid gets allergies and you let her continue exposure for years! That's child abuse in my book, get read of the damn floridians! Now I wonder why would Casey want to take a picture with her kid.